It deserves attention, care and precision. Pastry making is a real science made of numbers and passion. Dario Bressanini, university professor of chemistry and author of the book “La scienza della pasticceria – La chimica del bignè” (Gribaudo), knows this well. Bressanini, who has always loved eating, began studying chemistry applied to cooking in the USA.
PASTRY SHOP TO BE… READ
Thanks to this manual it is possible to understand why the recipes follow the same chemical and physical principles. Every cook, after all, is a chemist. Five chapters – starting from sugars, moving on to eggs, milk, flour and gases to make the product rise – with simple language, explanatory drawings and handy tables.
Making perfect desserts is possible, but obviously you need to start from the basics, that is, the ingredients and the most common mistakes we usually make.
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Sugars – divided into simple and complex – regulate the structure of the dessert. Soluble in water, sugar absorbs moisture, lowers the freezing point and increases the boiling point.
Eggs bind doughs, incorporate air for leavening. How to best store them? Strictly in their cardboard packaging that absorbs humidity and placed on one of the internal shelves of the refrigerator, never in the classic tray with holes that we find in the door as temperature changes could damage them. Also pay attention to the yeasts that must add carbon dioxide and make the dough rise.
In any case, it is essential to measure the ingredients precisely and never weigh “by eye”.
